


Chanukah, Oh Chanukah

by mustachio



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Chanukah Fic, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hanukkah, Jewish Bucky Barnes, Jewish Darcy Lewis, Jewish Peter Parker, Jewish Reader, Jewish Wanda Maximoff, dreidel playing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:35:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28003239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mustachio/pseuds/mustachio
Summary: Maybe G-d won't appreciate a pagan god joining in on your Chanukah celebration with the other Jewish Avengers, but hey, at least you're having fun.
Relationships: Loki (Marvel)/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	Chanukah, Oh Chanukah

**Author's Note:**

> This was literally just an excuse to write a bunch of MCU characters being Jewish and celebrating Chanukah with some Loki/Reader stuff because I just felt like it. Also, I was raised in a very assimilated reform Jewish household and while I am trying to get more in touch with my Judaism, I still have a long way to go. So apologies if this doesn't really match up with what you'd expect.

'Twas a fortnight before Christmas in the Avenger's compound… 

When in the kitchen, a small group of heroes gathered 'round... 

On the far side of the room Bucky, Wanda, Steve, and Darcy sat around a table littered with chocolate coins and wine glasses filled to the brim with Manischewitz wine. You listened with one ear to the protests as Bucky took yet another portion of the coins from the pile at the center of the table.

"This dreidel has to be rigged," Wanda said, sipping from her glass. "No one is this good without cheating."

"Bucky is; always has been, ever since we were kids," Steve spun the dreidel. It wobbled without ever managing to make it to a proper spin, and then landed on ש. He tossed a coin into the pile with a huff.

"How do you even get good at playing dreidel?" Peter asked. "It's all just luck, right?"

Darcy pushed away from the table to grab another bottle of wine from the counter you and Peter were chopping vegetables at. She ruffled his hair.

"Don't be a sore loser, Pete or we won't let you play the next round."

"Hey, I didn't really lose," he insisted. "I just thought it would be rude to make one person cook for all of us."

"As sweet as that is, Pete, Tony literally pays me to cook for you guys. And I'm usually cooking for way more than six people," you said, tossing the newly chopped vegetables in some batter and herbs. "Besides, once we get these babies in the oil there'll be nothing left to do."

It was at this moment that Loki walked into the kitchen. All eyes fell on him. He looked at you. His discomfort was palpable from where you stood, only made worse when Darcy leaned over your shoulder to not-so-subtly whisper "who invited tall, dark, and menacing to the party?" 

You poked Darcy's side. She squirmed and squealed away from your finger and returned to the table to give the dreidel another shot. It landed on נ. 

"Rigged, I tell ya! Wanda was right. This dreidel has to be rigged," she said, and ate one of her pieces of gelt.

"I'm just gonna…" Peter gestured awkwardly behind him before getting up to rejoin the dreidel table.

With the cooking area free of all other people beyond yourself, Loki felt comfortable enough to make his way over. He seemed unsure of himself in the presence of the others. They all had the good sense not to continue staring at Loki, but everyone was all too aware of his presence at an event he had not been invited to and no one was quite sure what to make of it, Loki included. 

"Interested in celebrating Chanukah?" You asked.

"What?"

"Yeah, I didn't think so." You grinned to let him know you were just teasing him a little. "So what's up? Tony told you I have tonight off for the holiday so I'm not cooking for everyone tonight, right?"

Loki grimaced, and you made a mental note to have some words with Tony about leaving Loki in the dark about things. 

"Stark did not tell me," He looked around the room and the hodge podge of people gathered there. "What a remarkable and uncharacteristic show of restraint for Stark to not host a party in honor of a holiday."

"Yeah, well, unfortunately to a lot of people this is just 'the holiday in December that we don't think about because it isn't Christmas." 

You brought the battered vegetables over to the hot oil. Loki watched you drop them in one by one. Once those were in you took the brisket out of the oven to rest, and got another batch of latkes in the pan. 

"You think of it differently," Loki said.

"Well, yeah. I'm Jewish. All of us in this room are—except Steve, but he's been celebrating Chanukah with Bucky since he was a kid so we're considering him an honorary Jew. It's one of our holidays. Of course we think of it differently."

Silence fell between the two of you, but the world around you did no such thing. The kitchen air filled with the crackle and pop of frying oil. From the other side of the room there was the sound of the dreidel spinning and falling. Groans came next. Then the shuffling of lost and won prizes. There was laughter. There was something resembling home. 

But it did not sound that way to Loki. 

_Hard for anywhere to sound like home when you lack one,_ he tried not to think.

The new sound of a chair scraping against the floor drew your attention back to your otherworldly guest. He had pulled a chair out as if to sit down, then continued to stand. He straightened out his suit and made to leave the way he came. A few glances were thrown his way from the game table, but no one said anything more to him. A small sense of guilt bubbled up in you. You didn't mean to make Loki feel like he hadnot leave.

"You can stay, if you want," you started. But that didn't feel right. You started again. "I would like it if you stayed."

"Does everyone here feel that way?"

"We all have skeletons in our closets, Loki. And it isn't even like you'd be the only recovering war criminal here. Besides, I'm the one cooking. If they make you feel uncomfortable, I won't let them eat."

Finally, Loki grinned; true amusement painted across his face. Butterflies fluttered about in your stomach. Behind Loki, the others stared. Maybe they were shocked that you invited him, maybe they were downright displeased, or maybe they were just nosy enough to openly listen to your conversation.

You were a little grateful that they were acting so weird about Loki being there. It wasn't like you wanted him to feel uncomfortable, it was just that the less welcoming they were, the more inclined Loki felt to stick with you. And you very much liked having Loki at your side.

The food didn't take much longer to finish cooking. When it was all done, Loki helped to set the table. You set the food out along the kitchen island so that everyone could take what they wanted. It felt more domestic than you thought anything involving a prince-god from outer space could. Unbidden, the image of having Loki help you set the table again in the future came to mind. Not for a ragtag group of superheroes who just happened to celebrate a different holiday than the rest of the team, but for a family. He would make a game of it, you thought. He would hide plates and silverware and other table items away so that the kids would have to go find them and while they were looking for the missing items, he would change something so that it would be ever so slightly off. He would work them up and then, just when it seemed they'd had enough, he would use his magic to set the table perfectly; a show of lights and sparkles that would dazzle and amaze them right out of their frustration. He would have a blast hiding the afikomen on Passover. 

"Whatcha day dreaming about?" Darcy whispered into your ear.

You jumped, coming out of your fantasy to see that everyone had made their way to the dinner table. Loki gave you an odd look, but said nothing. No one else seemed to have been paying enough attention to you to notice that you'd been staring off into space. You waved Darcy away. 

"Nothing. Just thinking about how I can steal your latkes when you aren't looking," you teased.

"Oh, don't you even think about it! If you even think about touching my latkes I won't give you your present," she shot back.

Loki picked up the dreidel, which along with the gelt and wine, had been brought from the game table to the dinner table. He turned it in his fingers a few times, then looked at you.

"These are Hebrew characters, aren't they?"

"You know Hebrew?" Steve asked, incredulous. 

Amusement played on Loki's face. "Mortals' insistence on developing their own languages despite Odin's gift of Allspeak has always been a source of frustration for him. His frustration provided me with a source of entertainment. So, naturally, I spent a considerable amount of time in my youth learning as many of your languages as I could. Among them, yes, Hebrew."

Peter's jaw dropped, "Man, I wish I could speak Hebrew. You'd think they'd teach us how to read it in Hebrew school, but nah."

"Just how to read with vowels. No meanings to anything or even how to read without vowels," you shook your head, feeling the same disappointment in your Hebrew school experience. But then you grinned. Your chance to really incorporate Loki into the festivities arrived. 

"Why don't you lead the blessings?" You suggested. You grabbed a little booklet from the bag you had hanging from the side of the chair. "They're all in here so you don't need to know them off hand. But if you can speak Hebrew, why not show off a little by reading for us?"

Skepticism was written across Loki's face. He plucked the book from your hand and flipped through it until he reached the page titled Chanukah Blessings and gaves it a quick skim. "Tell me more of this holiday of yours. Then I _may_ humor you."

So you did. Well, not just you. Everyone chipped in to tell him what they knew of the holiday, starting with Darcy's exclamation of "it's a celebration of how we once again survived people wanting to kill us," and ending with Peter listing various foods traditionally eaten on Jewish holidays including those entirely unrelated to Chanukah. Bucky explained dreidels and Wanda narrated the story of the oil that lasted for eight days.

"It's a reason to get together and kvetch about everyone else," you added, perhaps unhelpfully.

In truth, the explanation was something of a mess and you thought if the superhero gig didn't work out for them, they would most certainly have to look for non-teaching jobs. Then again, you supposed the chaos of it might have actually been perfect for Loki. His face gave away nothing. There was a smile on his face, but it was small and paired as it was with one raised eyebrow, it felt more judgemental than anything. But there was also something in the way he held himself that told you he was having fun, even if he didn't show it on his face. He looked relaxed with his legs stretched under the table and his fingers twitching and glowing with a magic that caused the dreidel to spin on the table, even while he seemed to be paying it very little attention. 

The Avengers frowned upon his use of magic when it wasn't necessary and, though he had little respect for the rule, Loki restricted himself accordingly for the sake of the fragile peace that had formed. But in that moment, Loki was free to be himself.

"So what do you say, Lokes?" You asked.

All eyes turned you. Variations of surprise painted all faces, though two were markedly different from the rest. Scarlet lips turned up in a smirk while Wanda's chin rested in the palm of her hand. Darcy made no secret of her wagging eyebrows and it was only a quick kick to her shin that kept her from making a comment that would cause you to regret being so familiar with the god of mischief. Especially in front of two people who knew you were harboring an enormous crush on him.

"Very well," the words were nearly a purr. His tongue ran along his lips once the words were out. "Your blessings will be read from one god to another." 

You gave him what you hoped was your most charming smile. It was probably against the halakha to have Loki read the blessings; the whole there's only one god thing kind of made Loki's whole existence a sore spot for your faith. Still, you wanted Loki to feel included. If that meant you had one more thing to atone for come Yom Kippur, so be it.

"Do we have a menorah to light?" Steve asked.

"Do we _ever_ ," you said and reached into your bag to grab the surprise you had made for the holiday. "I had this custom made just for us."

You set the menorah on the table. For a few moments you let everyone pass it around to see how you had it designed. The shamash holder was held up by the team logo. The candle holders on either end of the menorah were shaped like a dreidel and Magen David respectively. The remaining six candle holders took the shape of little cartoon heads for everyone sitting around the table--everyone except Loki. You swallowed hard to push down the guilt you felt over Loki's accidental exclusion. You couldn't do anything about it. It wasn't like you could have anticipated a pagan god joining in on a Jewish celebration. 

"I know it's kind of cheesy," you started, but Darcy cut you off.

"Pft, are you kidding? It's adorable," She took another look at the cartoon version of her. "Kinda makes me think I should be the main character in a cartoon."

"I'm with Darcy. It's pretty cool to have my head on a menorah." Peter said with a grin. 

"Tony gets so much Christmas themed stuff for the team, it's nice to have something that shows we're not all gentiles," Bucky chimed in.

Heat rushed to your cheeks so you pulled out a pack of candles before anyone else could say anything, "So how about we get this show on the road."

You lit the shamash and Wanda took it to light the first night's candle. With the candles lit, all eyes fell to Loki.

"That's my cue to begin, then?" He said, not waiting for a response before he began.

Loki did not read the blessings; he recited them. This took you by surprise more than the perfection of his pronunciation and you wondered if he hadn't only studied the language, but the culture surrounding it as well. Or maybe his godly memory just didn't require more than a seconds long glance at the words. Whatever the explanation, you knew you weren't the only one impressed. Even Bucky, whose smiles were usually reserved for those he considered friends (a group that, as far as you could tell, consisted only of the people sitting at the table, Sam, and the people he met in Wakanda), let a smirk show. 

"That was awesome, Loki," you said, bumping your knee against his. 

"Anything to irritate the great Odin All-Father," he said, but his fingers skimmed along your hand and you knew he took your praise to heart.

"Can we eat now?" Peter asked.

"I don't see why not. Let the feast of fried foods begin!"

The night passed quickly after that. Any awkwardness that remained dissipated once more wine was poured. Chanukah felt was passed around and while you all ate, a new game of dreidel began. 

"What's your other hand doing under the table, Loki?" Bucky leaned forward, eyes narrowed.

Loki lifted the hand that had been under the table in the air. He wiggled his fingers as if to say 'I'm innocent.' The dreidel stopped spinning when he did. 

ג. For the third time in a row.

All eyes fell to Loki for the third time that night.

"C'mon you guys, we don't have any proof that he was cheating," you said, absolutely not lying whatsoever. Why would you lie? Of course you genuinely believed that Loki was playing fair and square.

Okay, so maybe you were lying.

"You were pretty quick to jump to his defense," Darcy said. She smirked and one of her eyebrows quirked up. "Were you guys doing something scandalous over there?"

"Making a different kind of magic?" Wanda jumped in.

"Now that would be telling," Loki lifted a finger to his smirking lips. 

"Uh, kid at the table," Peter waved his hand above his head. "I don't think I'm supposed to be hearing this."

"Let's keep playing the game. I need to win back some of my gelt before the night's done." Steve shook his head in mock shame.

Steve was not to win back any of his gelt, though. Probably owed to the fact that he was the only one playing fair at that point. Once Loki had opened the cheating floodgates, Wanda joined in on using magic to manipulate the dreidel into landing how she wanted it. Darcy ate all of her gelt in retribution so that the sorcerers couldn't take it from them and Peter used his webs to protect his gelt from any sticky fingers. Loki used his magic to help you win a few rounds, but Bucky's skills as an assassin helped him to steal nearly half of your winnings when you looked away from the game to swipe the last of the latkes from the food table. But for all of the chaos that descended on the game, not a single person walked away from the table with a frown on their face. 

Loki lingered even after the others had gone to bed for the night. He sat at the table, where he'd been all night, and watched you putter around the kitchen cleaning up. The attention made you feel self-conscious. You might have enjoyed it if there was any indication that it was the good kind of attention, but Loki's face gave nothing away. 

"Would you like to help me clean up?" You asked to try and break up some of the awkwardness. 

"No." He looked mildly offended that you'd asked him.

"Right, probably should have known better than to ask an alien-god-prince if he wanted to clean. You probably had, like, a thousand maids on Asgard." You rolled your eyes, continuing to load the dishwasher.

"Only three hundred at the busiest of times," he said, mischief glinting in his eyes.

"Geez, and I thought _Tony_ was spoiled. Well, maybe it's time you learn how to clean for yourself. Come here. I'll teach you about this wonderful thing called a dishwasher."

Loki was by your side before you finished your next blink. Maybe the wine was making you more unaware than you realized or maybe Loki used magic to move faster. He gave no time to dwell on it. He ran his index finger along your cheek. His thumb rested on your lips.

"Are gifts given on Chanukah?" He leaned in close. His breath tickled.

You nodded.

"Good. Close your eyes, I have something for you."

You did as he asked without hesitation. A breath, and his thumb moved away to be replaced by something softer, sweeter.

His lips, pressed to yours. A kiss. A declaration. A gift you would cherish for years to come.

Your eyes remained closed a moment longer after he pulled away. You grinned.

"Wow, Lokes. Who knew you were so good at picking out gifts?" The self satisfied smirk on his face told you that he did. "And what a coincidence, I got you the same thing."

"Well, you had better give it to me. I am not known for my patience."

So you did give it to him. Over and over again until neither of you had the breath to even say "happy Chanukah."


End file.
